Shag's Lifting and Diet Journal.

[shagnscoob]

yep. totally reverse the order of day 1 (although you should leave abs at the end). you want to move from big muscle groups & compound exercises down to smaller muscles & smaller exercises. so you want to go chest -> shoulders -> triceps.

Well thats how it was organized before, I thought it would be better to switch up the order as well. But I'll go back to--

Bench Press
Incline Flies
DB Military Press
Rope Pushdowns
Abs

 

[Warboss Alex]

Make the order so that nothing you do weakens the main pressing movement (the primary growth producer)

 

[shagnscoob]

Okay well after talking to some people I think I may switch around exercises slightly again...

BB Bench Press
Dips
DB Military Press
Close Grip Bench Press (perhaps on an incline to hit more upper pecs?)
Abs

I guess either that or what I'm doing would work, this way has way more compound movements though...

 

[Warboss Alex]

Shag, you have routine ADD. Pick something and roll with it

Close grip bench press is not meant to hit pecs. It's a tricep movement. Lose the bench press and do inclines

 

[shagnscoob]

Shag, you have routine ADD. Pick something and roll with it

Close grip bench press is not meant to hit pecs. It's a tricep movement. Lose the bench press and do inclines

You're right. I'm going to stick with what I did yesterday, except change the order.

 

[shagnscoob]

Day 2 of Week 10:

PullDowns, 2x10 100
DB Rows 2x10 35
Hammer Curls 1x10 17.5
Squats 1x5 155. 1x6 1x7 160.

comments--

DB Rows: I hate these. **** em. What can I do instead? Cable Rows? What about lifting the oly bar with one side in the corner and plates on the other? Anything besides DB Rows and the Tbar (I'm rotating from those).

My squat went up 15 pounds, but I just calculated the work total and it went down by like 55 pounds from last week. Although to keep the same amount of work as last week by only doing 15 sets, I would have to put 194 pounds on the bar... I suspect I'm heading the right direction.

 

[shaunuk]

Yeah shags, you're doing good, no need to change owt really

Close grip bench press is not meant to hit pecs. It's a tricep movement. Lose the bench press and do inclines

Hm, is there anything particularly wrong with flat BB bench? EFFORT has me doing flat bench press in the format 5x3 (on Max Effort Upper), and I'm progressing etc.. (though I also do incline DB presses after)

-shaun

 

[shaunuk]

Day 2 of Week 10:
DB Rows: I hate these. **** em. What can I do instead? Cable Rows? What about lifting the oly bar with one side in the corner and plates on the other? Anything besides DB Rows and the Tbar (I'm rotating from those).

How about barbell rows? I am them with a supinated grip (underhand) so that more weight can be rowed (dorian rows, they're sometimes called).

-shaun

 

[Warboss Alex]

Yeah shags, you're doing good, no need to change owt really


Hm, is there anything particularly wrong with flat BB bench? EFFORT has me doing flat bench press in the format 5x3 (on Max Effort Upper), and I'm progressing etc.. (though I also do incline DB presses after)

-shaun

At your stage (beginner) anything is good and in the context of the routine you're on barbell bench is fine if it's done powerlifting-style (tucked elbows etc). However I believe there are better (and safer) options for size over the longterm.

 

[shagnscoob]

I'm going to hang on to the DB rows for at least a few more weeks until I rotate again. They actually seem to work really well, I just have to make sure I do them correctly on my left side, where I seemed to use A LOT of bicep.

The reason I wasn't sure about flat bb benching was because on the Smith machine it was giving my left shoulder some problems. When I moved to free weights last week the problem improved dramatically, although I still noticed it a tiny bit, probably because of my form.

WBA-- Is there any video examples of doing a BP with elbows flared and a video of elbows tucked? I've seen it explained a million times but I've never quite figured out how it works. I've seen really well produced videos about deadlifting and squatting, but none about bench pressing...


thanks!

 

[shagnscoob]

Week 11, day 1:

Bench Press 3x5 135
Incline Flies 1x8 1x10 30s.
DBMP 2x5 35s.
Rope Pushdowns 2x10 45
HEAVY abs.

Okay so I was trying out my new Bench Press form today, and it went alright, definitely less stress on pecs, but depending on how I do it sometimes less on shoulders, sometimes more. I'm trying to keep my elbows really tucked, but now I'm finding it difficult to keep my wrists straight and solid. Plus I'm not used to doing it with a legit barbell so I'm still wobbly and unbalanced.

Incline flies feel like they are ripping my shoulders off, but my shoulders feel fine afterward.

MP: RIDICULOUSLY hard. I can't believe it was this hard. I think I might have over warmed up, using 2 10's or something because they were REALLY REALLY difficult for some reason. I didn't even push the weight up.

On the bright side, I felt a beautiful pump in my chest and ESPECIALLY in my triceps after the rope pushdowns.


I'm thinking for week 12 I should step off the max effort stuff, and relax for a week. Use it to regenerate and more important to fix my form on all my lifts. I think I started off too heavy with the DB lifts like the flies and the MPs when I should have worked up a little slower, espeically for my first time EVER doing DB lifts.

 

[Warboss Alex]

shags, just go to any powerlifting site and see how they bench.

I'd rather you just did incline pressing if size is your goal however.

 

[shagnscoob]

Well I'm doing an incline exercise anyway. I'm thinking I just need to work on my form and I'll be alright. I can start doing Hammer Strength Bench Press until my form gets better though.

I've been doing a lot of research about PL style bench pressing, and I'm getting better for sure.


anyway, right now I'm chowing on 8 eggs whites w/ 3 yokes, 2 chicken breasts and a bunch of soy beans

edit- and im watching pumping iron

 

[shagnscoob]

Usually workout on Fridays but since I'm going to be traveling and up late tomorow I worked out tonight--

Pulldowns 2x10 110
DB Rows 2x8 50s
Curls 1x12 17.5
Deadlifts 1x5 135
Squats 2x5 170 1x6 175

 

[shagnscoob]

I've been taking this week off to recover. Plus I think I've worked myself into a rotator cuff injury/irritation. It was hurting pretty bad during my cycle, so I've been stretching it and laying off the weights COMPLETELY, and it's feeling better. I still don't know if I'm going to work my usual upper body set on Tuesday...

To any experts out there- how bad will it be for my rotator to do DB benches, Incline Benches, Military Press, or Dips? I want to work but not at the cost of my shoulder, I'm willing to take another week off.

 

[shagnscoob]

I decided not to work upper body this week either.

It looks like I might also just not flat bench anymore at all, and instead rock the incline presses and DB presses. Although I'd like to keep flat benching...

 

[shagnscoob]

After taking a week off (so I hadn't done this workout in 2 weeks on the day):


Pulldowns 2x10 100
DB Rows 2x8 45s
Curls 1x11 17.5s
Deadlifts 1x5 135
Squats 2x5 165 1x6 155


I should have started at lower weights to build momentum but I should be fine. I was still making really consistent gains when I took the week off. We'll see. I think I'm going to do upperbody again for the first time in 3 weeks on tuesday, except I won't be doing flat benches for awhile.

 

[shagnscoob]

Today--

Dips 2x8 bodyweight
Incline Press 1x5 70, 1x5 75, 1x9 75
DBMP 2x8 25s
Tricep Pushdowns 2x10 40
ABS

feels a lot better than when I did flat benches.

 

[shagnscoob]

Today--

Pulldowns 2x10 110
DB Rows 2x8 50s
Curls 1x9 20s
Deadlifts 1x5 155
Squats 3x5 175

I didn't feel very sore at all after my squats, like I could easily walk. The weight was for sure heavy enough because when I was doing it I could barely get that fifth rep out...

 

[shagnscoob]

Today--

Dips 2x8 10lbs.
Incline Presses 3x5 90lbs
DBMP 1x8 1x5 27.5's
Tricep Pulldowns 1x10 1x5 45lbs.
Abs like crazy

I can tell my shoulders are getting way less stressed. They still don't feel great afterward but now it's more like weakness than injury.